Hello bowlers, and welcome to the recap for the M.I.S.T. held on November 11, 2012 at Bayside Bowl in Portland, ME. This was an exciting event for the M.I.S.T., as it was the first time we have ever been to Bayside Bowl for a tournament. I would like to say thank you very much to Charlie Mitchell and all his staff at Bayside Bowl for making this a great tournament experience for our tournament bowlers. There was a great buzz in the air, and from the feedback I received, I am sure we will be back for future tournaments in upcoming seasons. We bowled on an oil pattern which was created by USBC Gold Level Coach Joe Slowinski, which was a 45ft. flat oil pattern called “What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been”, which put a premium on good shot making, superb accuracy, and great speed control. In the 4+ years I have run the M.I.S.T., this pattern produced the lowest scoring pace in M.I.S.T. history, and was laid out very nicely by Bayside Bowl, as the pattern seemed to break down consistently from pair to pair. It took a 743 to make the top (4), and a 700 to cash for a (4) game total. Low scores mean a premium on leaving makeable spares, and then making them, to score well. The M.I.S.T. prides itself on putting out tougher shots than any other scratch tournament around, which will truly test our elite bowlers and find THE best scratch bowler at the end of the day at every single tournament. We had (32) entries, a season high, which meant we paid (8) spots, with the top (4) rolling off for the title. Here are the qualifying scores, with the cut line marked by a “—“:

Our 8th place finisher was Joe Kenney, who pulled out a 700 to grab the last cashing spot. He earned $55 and grabbed 35 Bowler of the Year (BOY) points. 7th place finisher was John Bovoy, who also sponsors the M.I.S.T. by donating a bottle of Knockout ball cleaner every month, so thank you John. John shot a 730 total, picking up $65 and nabbing 40 BOY points on the day. 6th place was Sarah Pelletier, our lone female qualifier, who shot a nice 740 total. Sarah earned $80 and picked up 45 BOY points. 5th place, and only missing the top 4 by (2) pins, was our two time defending Bowler of the Year Joe Colcord. Joe shot 741 total, making $95 and also getting 50 BOY points on the day. Congrats to all of our cashers on this super tough oil pattern! Our first step ladder final match was between 4th seeded Joe Ramsdell III and 3rd seed Bob Nile. Joe qualified 4th with a 743 total, and Bob qualified 3rd with a 747. Here is the score from their match:

Bob Nile – 193
Joe Ramsdell III – 215

Little did we know, but this match would feature the two highest games in our roll off, if that tells you just how hard this pattern was. Joe did a great job making all his spares, and keeping the ball in play, and Bob did good as well, but he couldn’t quite get enough carry to catch Joe in the end. Bob had a fantastic finish, grabbing 4th place, picking up $140 and leaving with 60 BOY points on the day. Nice job Bob! Our semi-final match featured 2nd seeded Loring Degazio, making his M.I.S.T. finals debut, bowling against Joe Ramsdell III. Loring qualified 2nd, shooting a nice 751 total. Here is the result of their match:

Loring Degazio – 169
Joe Ramsdell III – 188

Once again, Joe proved that he could keep the ball in play, and make fewer mistakes than his opponent on this difficult oil pattern. This match was back and forth, and Loring did a great job keeping it close and needed to strike out to force Joe to strike to win. But, when he could only get the first strike in the 10th, Joe was able to move on with a clean 10th frame. Loring has nothing to hang his head about, as he did a great job, finishing 3rd earning $180 and picking up 70 BOY points on the day. Well done Loring! Our final match would feature Joe Ramsdell III, bowling against our top seed Rick Campbell. Rick led the field with a nice 757 total. Joe lost a final match earlier this year, would he be able to nail this one down, or would the wily veteran Rick take him down and earn his first M.I.S.T. title this season? Here is the result of their match:

Rick Campbell – 170
Joe Ramsdell III – 183

Just like our semi-final match, this was a see saw battle all the way. Joe got out to an early lead, but Rick was able to hang around all the way to the 10th frame. Rick needed to strike out to force Joe to mark, but he could only get the first strike in the 10th, and Joe was able to mark and seal the victory. Rick did a great job, bowling consistently all day long, and ended up grabbing a 2nd place finish for his effort. Rick made $230 and picked up 80 BOY points on the day. Nice job Rick! The story today was Joe Ramsdell III, who exorcised his demon from earlier this year by winning this tournament. Joe ran through the finals field, winning 3 matches on the way to the title. Joe picks up $290, and the all important 100 BOY points for the victory. Great bowling on this tough oil pattern Joe! Here are the final standings, with the Bowler of the Year points earned by each bowler:

Please join us next month as the M.I.S.T. travels to Spare Time Bowling Center in Portland, ME. on December 9, 2012. Check in time is 9:00 AM, with tournament bowling starting at 10:00 AM. Cost is $45, with a $10 high game pot option, and plenty of $5 brackets available for our bowlers. We will be raffling off another Brunswick bowling ball, so stay tuned to which one it will be, as I will post pictures of it as soon as it arrives. Thank you to Brunswick Bowling for sponsoring the M.I.S.T. by donating a bowling ball for each tournament to be raffled off. All of the proceeds of the raffle go into the prize fund for our bowlers. Also, we will be giving away another bottle of Knockout bowling ball cleaner to one lucky bowler. Bowl Pro Sales and John Bovoy have donated a bottle of Knockout ball cleaner to be drawn at each M.I.S.T. this season, so thank you for that support! Also, Moore’s Pro Shop, who sponsor our Bowler of the Year competition, have offered to drill free of charge, the bowling ball that our lucky winner wins each month. The winner only has to pay for any finger inserts or thumb slug, but the drilling will be free, courtesy of Moore’s Pro Shop. Thank you Scott Moore for this great offer, and Moore’s Pro Shop is the official pro shop of the M.I.S.T. Please check them out on Facebook, or call to make your next appointment at (207) 753-9395. You’ve tried the rest; now try the best at Moore’s Pro Shop.

On a sad note, we lost a former M.I.S.T. bowler, Ben Johnson III in a tragic fire this past weekend. All of us at the M.I.S.T. send our thoughts and condolences to the entire Johnson family during this difficult time. Ben bowled out of Bangor, and was a good bowler, and a great person who will be missed by everyone who ever knew him. Since he was from the Bangor area, and the M.I.S.T. will be bowling there in January at Family Fun Lanes, the M.I.S.T. is going to donate ALL bowling ball raffle proceeds from that tournament to the Johnson family. So, please keep that in mind bowlers, and let’s raise some serious cash for the family when we go to Family Fun Lanes in January. Every little bit helps.

I will have an updated Bowler of the Year point’s race on a separate report, and thank you to everyone who bowls in the M.I.S.T. for doing your part to keep scratch bowling alive and well in Maine. I am thrilled with our turnouts, but there are many bowlers out there who have yet to bowl in a M.I.S.T., so tell your friends at the lanes it’s time they tried out the M.I.S.T. for themselves! See you all next month in Portland everyone!

Hello bowlers, here is the recap for the M.I.S.T. held at Sparetime Recreation in Waterville, ME. on October 28,2012. I would first like to thank Brunswick Bowling for sponsoring the M.I.S.T. with their donation of the C-System Maxxed Out bowling ball, which was raffled off and won by Martin Fowler. Also, thank you to John Bovoy and Bowl Pro Sales for donating a bottle of Knockout Ball Cleaner, which was won by Jimmy Clark. Moore’s Pro Shop, who sponsors our Bowler of the Year competition, has offered to drill, free of charge, the raffle ball each month for the lucky bowler that wins it. They only have to pay for the inserts and/or thumb slug if applicable. Thank you to Moore’s Pro Shop and Scott Moore for offering to do that service free of charge. Please check out all of our sponsors on Facebook. I would also like to thank all the staff of Sparetime Recreation in Waterville for having the M.I.S.T. there again this year, and providing superior customer serivce to the tournament, and all of our bowlers. We had (28) entries, which meant that we would take (7) cashers, with the top (4) rolling off for the title. We bowled on a tough PBA World Championship oil pattern, which kept the scores lower, but the competition fierce. Here are the qualifying scores, with the cut line denoted by a “—”:

7th place went to Jay Joslyn, who shot a nice 788 during qualifying. Jay made $55 and picked up 40 BOY points. 6th and 5th place were a tie between Dean Lagner and Scott Moore. Both bowlers shot a fine 808 during qualifying, and according to our rules they split the money for 5th and 6th place, since neither spot was a final cashing spot or for a spot in the rolloff. But, the BOY points for 5th and 6th place were determined by which bowler had the highest qualifying game. So, Scott had a higher qualfying game (238) than Dean (234), so he got the 5th place BOY points. Dean made $80 and picked up 45 BOY points for 6th place, and Scott also made $80, and picked up 50 BOY points for 5th place. Great job everyone!

Our 4th place qualifier was Cory Lagner with a very nice 818 total, and the 3rd qualifier was James Goulding III with a sweet 847 four game score. Here is the result of their quarter final match:

Cory Lagner – 155
James Goulding III – 154

Neither Cory or James could get a string of strikes together, which is why these oil patterns are so tough at times. But, they both grinded it out and it came right down to the last ball. James needed good count or a spare to win, and when he went 6 count and then 3 on the spare attempt, he lost by one pin. Cory marked in the 10th to force James to step up, and he could not, and Cory moved on to the semi final match. James had a good day, picking up a 4th place finish, $120, and 60 BOY points for his effort. Our semi final match featured Joe Colcord, our 2nd seed, who shot an 873 during qualifying, bowling against Cory Lagner. Here is the result of that matchup:

Cory Lagner – 246
Joe Colcord – 181

Cory led this match pretty much start to finish, throwing good shots, and taking advantage of a few breaks early on to solidify his spot in the finals. Joe could not quite line up and match up to what the lanes were giving, and ended up running out of frames to make a run at Cory. Joe still had another good M.I.S.T. finish, picking up $160 for 3rd place, and grabbing 70 BOY points on the day. Our final match would feature top seeded Miles Coplan, who shot an astounding 914 during qualifying, bowling against the red hot Cory Lagner, coming off of two straight victories. Here is the result of our title match:

Miles Coplan – 234
Cory Lagner – 185

Just like the semi final match, this one was dominated by one bowler, only this time it was Miles who took control. He started with the front 7 strikes, and never looked back. Cory tried to make a late run when Miles split in the 8th frame, but was unable to string enough strikes together to put the pressure on Miles. Cory has nothing to hang his head about, though, as he moved up to grab a 2nd place finish, $220, and nabbed 80 BOY points on the day. Great bowling Cory. The story of the day was Maile Coplan, and his domination of a very tough PBA World Championship oil pattern. This is Miles first ever M.I.S.T. title, and he picks up a $300 1st place prize, as well as getting the huge 100 BOY points that go with it. Congratulations Miles! Here are the final results, with the BOY points earned for the tournament next to the bowlers’ names:

Please join us for the next M.I.S.T. tournament, to be held on November 11, 2012 at Bayside Bowl in Portland, ME. Check in time is 9:15 AM with tournament bowling commencing at 10:00 AM. Cost is $45, with $5 brackets and a $10 High Game pot. We will also be raffling off a Brunswick NexXxus f(P+S) bowling ball, courtesy of Brunswick Bowling. Raffle tickets are $5 each, and are limited to M.I.S.T. participants only. We will also be giving away a bottle of Knockout premium bowling ball cleaner, courtesy of Bowl Pro Sales to one lucky tournament participant. I hope to see you there, thank you for supporting the M.I.S.T., and your help in keeping scratch bowling alive and well. I will have an update season long Bowler of the Year points list on a separate report. Thank you for supporting the M.I.S.T.